Sri Lanka’s HIPG issues clarification on vehicle storage policy
Sri Lanka’s Hambantota International Port Group (HIPG), has issued a statement clarifying its vehicle storage policy, saying that the “Port’s business is built on the efficient movement of cargo, not on earning revenue from storage charges.”
“Ports are designed to facilitate cargo movement, not to serve as long-term vehicle storage yards. Every vehicle that remains in the Port for months or years occupies valuable operational space required to handle new cargo and support the continued growth of Sri Lanka’s automotive logistics sector,” the HIPG said in a media release.
The statement was made following media reports that importers have not cleared over 1000 vehicles that were imported, and are subsequently stored at the Hambantota Port, with 625 vehicles being there for over 6 months since arriving in the country.
HIPG said in a statement that the port currently houses “more than 50,000 vehicles (both transhipment and local imports), approximately 1278 are lying in the yard for over 03 months, and 581 vehicles have remained at the Port for more than one year.”
The vehicles left for over a year are ones that are a result of the legacy market conditions created due to the country’s vehicle import restrictions.
From the vehicles left in the port for over a year, 400 of them were brought down before vehicle imports resumed in 2025, while another 175 vehicles were from before the import restrictions took place in 2020.
